Lookout Colorado: stoner economics?

When fully up to speed later this year, the new state office dedicated to enforcement of medical marijuana laws for the industry will staff enough investigators to rival the field staff at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

The burgeoning new Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division — born on July 1, 2010 — is a rarity among government programs in these prolonged tight budgetary times in that it is hiring at all.

The division hopes to soon staff 27 investigators, up from the five it has now.

CBI presently staffs 34 field investigators, and its officials have been begging for years for two to three more sleuths at what it says is a woefully understaffed office in Grand Junction.

“People are working like crazy,” says the bureau’s spokesman, Lance Clem. “Their plate is full.”

To make up the slack, officers from Denver routinely drive across the state to help staff the office.

Clem adds that it is not lost on those trying to solve tough cases like homicide and fraud that they feel understaffed while the new medical marijuana division rakes in the cash to monitor an industry in violation of federal law.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.